Chapter 12 - The Man Sitting Beside Richard for Twenty Years)
Samuel Grant had been Richard’s closest business partner since Hale Industries went public.
He was godfather to Amelia.
He delivered the eulogy at Elizabeth’s funeral.
He stood beside Richard at Amelia’s empty grave.
For twenty years, Samuel sat immediately to Richard’s right at every board meeting.
And according to Keller, Samuel financed Eleanor’s scheme.
The motive was simple.
Samuel wanted Hale Industries broken apart and sold.
Richard always refused.
Elizabeth refused.
Amelia likely would have refused.
Eleanor offered Samuel the one thing Richard never would.
Control.
The flash drive contained bank transfers.
Messages.
Recordings.
One audio file was dated two weeks before Elizabeth died.
Eleanor’s voice was unmistakable.
Once Elizabeth is gone, Richard will be easier to isolate.
Samuel answered.
And Amelia?
Eleanor said, Leave her to me.
Richard stopped the recording.
Amelia sat beside him.
“Play it.”
“You don’t need to hear the rest.”
“Yes, I do.”
Richard looked at her.
She met his eyes.
“I spent eight years afraid because other people decided what I could handle. Don’t do that too.”
He pressed play.
Samuel’s voice continued.
The girl is stubborn.
Eleanor laughed.
So is her father. Stubborn people break beautifully when you remove the people they love.
Richard’s jaw tightened.
The recording went on.
They discussed manipulating Richard into believing Evan was a fraud.
They discussed controlling Amelia through fear.
They discussed Elizabeth.
The guesthouse fire was not mentioned.
But the conspiracy was undeniable.
Keller agreed to testify.
So did Thomas.
Raymond Cole, the technician named in Evan’s recording, was found living in Ohio.
He admitted Paul Whitmore paid him to weaken Evan’s safety harness.
For the first time, they had a witness directly connecting Eleanor’s network to Evan’s death.
Amelia sat alone afterward.
Richard found her on the library terrace.
“You all right?”
“No.”
He nodded.
“Fair answer.”
She looked toward the gardens.
“I used to imagine coming home.”
Richard waited.
“In some versions, you apologized. In other versions I screamed at you. Sometimes I never told you who Lucy was.”
“What version is this?”
Amelia gave a tired laugh.
“The one where apparently half the people at Christmas dinner were criminals.”
Richard almost smiled.
Then Amelia became serious.
“I blamed you for Evan’s death.”
“I understand.”
“No. You don’t.”
She looked at him.
“Part of me needed it to be you.”
Richard frowned.
“Why?”
“Because hating you was easier than being afraid of everyone.”
He absorbed that.
“I’m sorry.”
“I know.”
“I can say it every day for the rest of my life.”
“That still won’t give Evan his life back.”
“No.”
“Or Mom.”
“No.”
“Or Lucy’s first eight years with you.”
Richard looked down.
“No.”
Amelia’s voice softened.
“But maybe you can stop spending every second trying to rewrite the past.”
He looked at her.
“You sound like your mother.”
“She was usually right.”
“Annoyingly.”
Amelia smiled.
It was the first real smile she had given him.
Inside, Lucy ran toward the terrace.
“Grandpa.”
Richard turned.
She held a photograph.
“I found this in Mom’s old room.”
It showed Richard, Elizabeth, and Amelia at a beach.
Lucy pointed toward Elizabeth.
“That’s Grandma?”
“Yes.”
“She looks like Mom.”
“She does.”
Lucy studied the picture.
“Do I look like her too?”
Richard looked at Lucy.
The eyes.
The chin.
The stubborn little crease between her brows.
“Yes.”
Lucy smiled.
Then Maria entered the room carrying a package.
“This was delivered for Lucy.”
Richard’s expression changed.
“No return address?”
Maria shook her head.
Richard stopped Lucy from touching it.
David’s team examined it.
Inside was not a weapon.
It was a white dress.
Child-sized.
Ruined with dark berry sauce.
Exactly like Eleanor’s dress from the Beaumont.
A note lay beneath it.
One accident started this.
One accident can end it.
Richard stared at the message.
Amelia’s face hardened.
“She’s threatening Lucy.”
“No.”
Richard picked up the note.
“She’s trying to scare us into hiding again.”
He tore it in half.
“That worked once.”
Lucy watched him.
Richard looked at his daughter.
“Not twice.”
The following morning Richard scheduled an emergency shareholder meeting.
Samuel Grant still believed Keller was fleeing the country.
Eleanor still believed Richard did not know Samuel was involved.
Richard intended to keep it that way.
Amelia understood immediately.
“You want them in the same room.”
“Yes.”
“To make them turn on each other.”
“Yes.”
She looked at him.
“That sounds like something Mom would do.”
Richard smiled faintly.
“She taught me everything useful.”
The meeting began at noon.
Samuel sat beside Richard as always.
Eleanor sat opposite him.
Richard opened a folder.
“Before we begin, I want to discuss the future of Hale Industries.”
Samuel relaxed.
Eleanor watched carefully.
Richard continued.
May you like
“And the people who tried to steal it by murdering my family.”
Samuel Grant’s pen slipped from his fingers.
